Gamecocks won’t look past Conway

Mark Morgan / The Item Sumter wide receiver Danneil Duncan looks to make his next move in the Gamecocks' 56-3 victory over Carolina Forest last week. SHS plays host to Conway today.

By DENNIS BRUNSON
Item Sports Editor
dennisb@theitem.com

The question posed to Sumter High School head football coach Paul Sorrells was a simple one: did you think you would ever be preparing to play a Conway football team coming off a 50-point loss?

With a laugh, Sorrells said, “No, I can honestly say I’ve never expected that.”

Sorrells’ remark is made completely out of respect for the Conway program, traditionally one of the top 4A programs in the state. The Tigers, however, are 4-5 this season and are coming off a 71-21 loss to South Florence.

Sorrells, whose 7-2 squad plays host to Conway today at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, has watched game film from the South Florence game, and he his coaching staff came to a conclusion that it was simply the Bruins’ night.

“One of our coaches described it well, saying that Conway pretty much got caught in a perfect storm,” Sorrells said. “Conway is not that bad of a team, they’re just struggling. They’re young at quarterback, starting a freshman, but he’s still a good quarterback.

“Everything South Florence did, it just seemed to turn into points. I’m sure Coach (Chuck) Jordan is going to find someway to turn that into a rallying cry. I know that Conway is not 50 points worse, day in and day out, than South Florence.”

With the Gamecocks having beaten South Florence 45-21 a few weeks ago, that leaves open a worry for Sorrells that his team may overlook Conway.

Sorrells hopes a statement one of his players made during a practice rings true throughout the rest of the team.

“I was glad to hear one of the kids, when I was talking about the pitfalls of this game, say, ‘But coach, they beat us for the region (VI) championship last year,’ “ Sorrells said. “And Conway is the defending region champion.”

Sumter is 3-0 in the region and can put itself firmly in position to play for the region title against Hartsville next week in Kelleytown with a victory over Conway.

“I’ve told our kids the last thing we want to do is put our destiny in someone else’s hands,” said Sorrells, who knows a region title will lead to a better seed and possibly more home games in the Division I state playoffs.



Reach Sports Editor Dennis Brunson at dennisb@theitem.com or (803) 774-1241.